Blog
Filter By:
Advocacy • Analysis • Blog • Commentary • Drama • Essay • Event • Feature • Fiction • Graphic Narrative • Interview • Memoir • News • Obituary • Open Letter • Poetry • Press Release • Profile
Browse By Series:
PEN Poetry Series • Prison Writing • The PEN Ten Interviews • Illustrated PEN • Pen Pals • The PEN World
Browse By Email Subscription:
PEN America News • Educational Censorship News • Works of Justice
PEN America Speaks: How We Defended and Celebrated Free Expression This Week
PEN America works tirelessly to defend free expression, support persecuted writers, and promote literary culture. Here are some of the latest ways PEN America is speaking out. More
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel Testimony Before Congress on Protecting Free Speech on College Campuses
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development Hearing on “Diversity of Thought: Protecting Free Speech on College Campuses" * Statement of Suzanne Nossel, Chief… More
The 10 Most Banned Books of the 2021-2022 School Year
These were the 10 most banned books in the 2021-2022 school year, according to PEN America's Banned Book Index. More
Trusted Messengers: How Community Engagement Journalism is Uniquely Positioned to Slow the Spread of Mis/Disinformation
Tips for journalists and journalism-adjacent professionals who are committed to fighting mis/disinformation through community engagement practices. More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Sunu Chandy
I hope that this book helps to reflect that as LGBTQIA+ people, and as women, and as people of color, we must have a society where we can control… More
Countering misinformation and disinformation about the indictment of former President Donald Trump
The public is likely to be inundated with conflicting information, some of it reliable, some of it accidental misinformation, and some of it deliberate disinformation. PEN America offers the… More
Frequently Banned Books Featuring Transgender Stories
In national efforts to ban books and restrict content on LGBTQ+ characters and themes, stories on transgender individuals and characters are commonly challenged and banned, making up about 9%… More
Ann Patchett Invites Community In After School Shooting
In an emotional video on social media, Ann Patchett sent love to those at the nearby Covenant School and invited community members to her store, Parnassus Books, if they… More
PEN America: Suspension of Wayne State University Professor for Social Media Post a “Blatant Overreaction”
Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education at PEN America, released the following statement: “The choice to suspend Shaviro and report his social media post to police is a… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Gina Chung
I really enjoy writing about animals in particular because they’re so much more honest than we are about what they need and want, and they have a completely different… More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
So proud to collaborate with @PENamerica given the mission to support human rights and free expression, including in our schools. Grateful for all their work to support writers and to fight misinformation and disinformation. Check out their important work! https://pen.org https://twitter.com/penamerica/status/1642232215928033281
A woman in France is to be tried on charges of insulting President Macron after describing him as 'filth' in a Facebook post.
"I asked the (police) if it was a joke, I had never been arrested," she said. "I am not public enemy number one." https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230329-french-woman-faces-trial-for-insulting-macron-on-facebook #FreeSpeech
In her debut collection My Dear Comrades, Sunu Chandy (@sunuchandy) draws from her many disciplines—#poetry, #law, #activism—to invite the reader into a space that resists boundaries while living among them.
Learn more in her new #PENTen interview: https://pen.org/the-pen-ten-an-interview-with-sunu-chandy/